Information For Study Volunteers

Volunteer Profile: Dorothy Graves

“I get quarterly blood tests and I feel like I am making a contribution.”

Though she’s been retired for some time, West Hartford resident Dorothy Graves is very active. She is a member of four groups of avid quilters, many of whom make patchwork quilts for charitable organization. By her own admission she’s “addicted” to quilting. She also gets daily exercise every morning as a walker at nearby Westfarms Mall.

The fact that Graves continues to enjoy a busy and productive life now that she’s no longer working is a tribute to the medical care she has received at the UConn Health Center and to her own commitment to staying healthy. Graves has lived with diabetes for 20 years.

Graves, who was a licensed practical nurse during her working years, knows all too well how devastating diabetes can be if it’s not effectively treated and managed. So, she has regular check-ups, carefully follows her doctors’ advice, monitors the disease routinely and watches her diet. In 2005 she took advantage of the opportunity to enhance her healthcare by participating in a study of new blood monitors for diabetics.

A friend who is a nurse at the Health Center learned of the study and told Graves about it. Once a year she visits the Center, where she undergoes a complete fasting blood test. Then the monitor, which is designed to be non-invasive, is attached to her ear. Over the next four hours, it checks her blood every 10 minutes. In between those visits she gets quarterly blood tests.

“It’s certainly no hardship,” says Graves. “Since I am a diabetic I get my blood checked regularly and I feel like I am making a contribution to the advance of healthcare for diabetics. I appreciate the opportunity to help the Health Center make healthcare better.”